Unlike coaches, not many NFL general managers are culled from the recycle bin. So, for the public, when a franchise hires a GM who hasn’t worn the clothes, it becomes a we’ll-just-have-to-take-your-word-for-it kind of thing.

Even if we don’t inherently trust a team owner and in the case of Chargers boss Dean Spanos, justly or unjustly, that’s how it is for many fans we must do so. We have no other choice.

After a whirlwind interview process to replace A.J. Smith that lasted about a week, Spanos Wednesday introduced Telesco as GM, now the former director of football ops for the Indianapolis Colts. Telesco is 40. I have muscle spasms older than he is.

Telesco may be the greatest GM in history. He may be a bust. We don’t know, can’t know. He’s never GMed before. It’s always a gamble when dealing with the unknown, which is why individual interviews go on forever. “They wore me out,” Telesco said.

He’s qualified, at least on paper, and certainly by reputation as a football man, one of those given credit for the remarkable resurgence in Indianapolis this past season. He spent the past 15 years with the Colts, moving up far enough to use the executive bathroom. During that time, Indianapolis has had one of the most accomplished front offices in football, so if he ascended there, he was doing something right.

Obviously, the posse of Spanos, son John, capologist Ed McGuire and consultant Ron Wolf wanted to be sure and flew around the country interviewing several candidates, including Jimmy Raye, who holds the same position with the Chargers Telesco did in Indianapolis. Interviews are good things, for both sides. There’s much to be learned.

But there are smart people who interview poorly and unqualified candidates who interview brilliantly. Spanos has admitted to me a coach he once hired “wasn’t the man I interviewed 10 months ago.” Mistakes can be made and often are.

Dean was careful, and what I found most interesting about the hire is that Telesco, while obviously of a different generation than Smith, basically shares the same football tenets. Listening to the new GM, I could have been sitting across the desk from Smith, hearing very similar words _ spoken more gruffly and sprinkled with more salt, but similar nevertheless.

“I have a draft-and-development philosophy,” Telesco said.

That’s a bingo. Both Telesco and Smith studied under famed football man Bill Polian, Telesco when Polian was running the Colts and Smith when Polian was with the Bills.

“He’s one of the best the game has seen,” Telesco said of his mentor, who did not, by the way, allow his assistants media access, so not even the Indy press people know much about the guy. “I have a lot of the same philosophies. A lot of what I learned from Bill is what I am today.

“We’re going to be a draft-driven team. Our main focus will be the draft. We will use free agency to support the roster _ if the talent equals the money.”

If that sounds familiar, it is. A.J. Smith. On the surface and surface is all we’ve got to ride on at the moment – we’re hearing the A.J. philosophy. Except its highly doubtful Telesco is as stubborn and aloof as Smith and hopefully he’ll have more patience with some quality players and high falootin’ agents than did his predecessor.

Telesco said he had received inquiries from other organizations but didn’t interview with anyone else. He added that having an established quarterback such as Philip Rivers made his choice easier.

“I wanted change; I wanted a new vision,” Spanos said. “I’m not going to fire everybody. But Tom is very impressive. He did evaluations for us and didn’t even have notes. It was his vision. I’m looking at him to be a unifying factor in this organization.

“This job isn’t just about picking players. How do you make it all work? How do you unify the team? I don’t think we had that.”

If so, he should have recognized it earlier. Whatever. Water, bridge.

Telesco now immediately embarks on a search to replace head coach Norv Turner. There naturally is speculation the frontrunner is Bruce Arians, who was assistant to Chuck Pagano in Indianapolis but ran the Colts for just about the entire season when Pagano was diagnosed with treatable leukemia. Arians is hot. He’s probably going to be NFL Coach of the Year.

But there will be other candidates and a new coach is expected to be in place by the middle of next week. Telesco says he has a list and his interviewers have a list and they’re very similar. If there’s any holdup, it’s that the group wants to interview a couple of coaches who are involved in playoff games this weekend and NFL rules forbid talking to assistants at this stage until teams are eliminated.

There is a sea change coming to this organization. Maybe not much change in basic philosophy, but in how football business perhaps all business is run.

No one expects Telesco to part that sea, but hopefully he can get the tide to rise.